The present invention relates generally to shelf organizers for use in a wide variety of product merchandising display units including refrigerated display coolers commonly employed by supermarkets, convenience stores, and other wholesale and retail outlets and, more particularly, to various embodiments of a universal floor/shelf organizer system which is capable of being assembled so as to accommodate any shelf length and width, and which includes divider members which can be selectively positioned and adjusted to produce product guide channels of varying width to accommodate products of varying sizes and shape. The present shelf organizers can be conveniently supported in a flat horizontal position or in an inclined position for gravity feeding products positioned thereon and represent a one-inventory solution to a particular user's specific needs and applications.
One of the problems typically associated with storing and displaying shelved products for sale to customers in a retail store setting is the inefficient use of available shelf space and the inability of the merchant to constantly provide an attractive arrangement of shelved products which are readily visible and easily accessible to the customer. Typically, articles of merchandise, especially products such as numerous bottled and canned soft drink products which are packaged in a wide variety of container sizes and shapes, are randomly distributed and stacked in segregated areas on a shelf or other display device in such a manner that the selection of a particular item, access to that particular item, and the removability of that item from the shelf or display device by the customer becomes, at times, difficult if not impossible. In the present day marketing of consumer products, it is important to maintain the display of products in a suitable and organized fashion.
As a result, a wide variety of display devices and shelf organizers have been designed and manufactured for use in merchandising shelved products to consumers, and such devices are commonly utilized by supermarkets, convenience stores, grocery outlets, fast food outlets, and a wide variety of other wholesale and retail stores to show and focus attention on the particular products displayed therein. Although various shelf organizer constructions are known and have been utilized to alleviate some of the aforementioned problems associated with merchandising shelved products to customers, the known devices generally have limitations in their ability to be compatible with shelves of varying width and length and, more importantly, they likewise have limitations in their ability to adjust the segregated product channels associated therewith to accommodate products of varying shapes and sizes so that a wider variety of different products may be merchandised from the same units.